Gorges of Takachiho: boat trip in the middle of basalt columns

Written by SandrinePublished on 06/20/16
Interest
Access

If you are crossing the Nishiuzuki district, stop off at the Takachiho Canyon, (u9ad8u5343u7a42u5ce1).

At the bend of a bend, you can discover the fantastic scenery of a 17-metre waterfall flowing into the green waters of the Gokase River, amidst magnificent basalt columns. The gorges were formed by a lava flow following an eruption of Mount Aso. The lava cooled down very quickly and formed the geometrical basalt columns that can be admired today.

Flo manoeuvres the boat to take us into the gorges

1Boat ride in the Takachiho Gorge

You can sail until you reach the waterfall, see positioning yourself underneath for those who want to try the experience, but be careful, it gets wet! We went there in May, during the week and we weren't many of us on the water, but I guess in the season or the weekend there must be a lot of people.

Boat ride
It's wetter under the waterfall

The most interesting narrow section is only about 200 metres long, but this is enough to make the site remarkable. The boat ride is quite pleasant, but beware, you will only have 30 minutes. Don't spend too much time playing with the many ducks if you don't want to pay extra on arrival.

2Discover the gorges of Takachiho on foot

A small footpath has also been laid out at the top of the gorges on the other side of the pier. It allows you to admire the gorges and the waterfall from above, all free of charge.

After about 200m, the gorges stop.
Zoom on basalt columns

Also know that the gorges are illuminated in the evening during the summer, until 10 pm.

Our opinion
We like

The beauty of the site.

The romantic boat ride.

We don't like

Short enough, the spectacular section is finally quite small.

The price a little high for only 30 minutes of boat.

About us

We are Sandrine and Flo, French thirty-somethings. In 2019 we quit everything to live our dream, become nomads and travel around the world. We left with our baby, Lena, who was only 5 months old at the time. After a first trip around the Pacific Ocean by plane and a long 3 months stay in Hawaii, we left to discover Iceland for 3 months on board our 4WD pickup truck and truck camper. Then we continued our adventure in North America.

Today, if we can continue this adventure, it is above all thanks to our blog, Smartrippers! We created it one day in 2016, with the desire to share our good travel tips, without thinking that it would lead us there! We have developed it a lot over the years and have become experts on our 3 favorite destinations: Hawaii, Iceland and the American West. We now guide you to these destinations to help you plan the trip of your dreams!

Follow our adventures!